Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

This forum is for discussions related to C. diff. including symptoms, doctors, medical advances, medications, If you are a new poster (joined within the last month), you can post more often for two months from your date of joining. After that time, one post per day only about "you." You can post more often to support others. Post other topics in Free Form Discussion and Chat Forum.
KKBoomer
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Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:31 pm

Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

Postby KKBoomer » Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:19 pm

I’m new here...after 10 days of D and worsening gas, bloat,pain, My GI ordered labs, gave me no no warning that I could have something serious and contagious, just suggestion for diet and probiotics. They’d be in touch. Results took 8 calendar days due to July4 holiday and GI staff
was in no hurry to review results and notify the patient.
By the time I was notified And Vancomycin ordered & filled, I was very sick including fever and confusion. I’m a ‘young’ 68 yrs old with what once was a ‘cast-iron’ gut. I imagine every member remembers the devastating shock that came. It was too horrible for me to accept, and I wake up from each nap or sleep with that blessed second when I’m not aware of my current reality.
I share a home with a family member who has IBS...Her BMs are sometimes painful, loose and frequent, but no Cdiff was ever diagnosed or suggested...Research suggests she may be a carrier, and here’s the rub. Several weeks before I developed symptoms, I started drinking alkaline water. I suspect there’s a link...alkaline water changed my gut balance and I became susceptible. Boom.
Grateful to find this forum and I’m trying to understand how people can live their lives with this. I’m ‘only’ two weeks in, but I haven’t left the house. Focused on treatment compliance and remaining optimistic. I’m no longer alone.

NanciT
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Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2014 12:01 pm

Re: Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

Postby NanciT » Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:17 pm

Hello and Welcome to the site Please read the first thread for all new posters

It's difficult to say where you picked this up if you have not been on antibiotics, been in a hospital..even for a visit, are on a PPI, but I have never heard of water causing this. We have had several posters who fall into this category and we don't know where they picked it up

Hopefully the Vanco will work for you, consider taking a probiotic( spaced out between the Vanco_ and check with your GI first. The two we see most on the site are Florester or VSL#3. Give your gut a rest and try to stick with a bland diet while on medications then slowly get back to your normal diet. It can take some time for the gut to heal.

Sorry you had to wait so LONG for results!!! If you share the bathroom with the family member make sure to use a bleach solution or bleach wipes in the bathroom.

Hopefully the Vanco will work and you will find yourself improving, it can take some time.

NanciT

AllisS
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Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

Postby AllisS » Fri Jul 13, 2018 11:17 pm

Hi KKBoomer, another "welcome to the site." I agree with Nancy that alkaline water is highly unlikely to be a trigger or predisposing factor for C. diff.

To elaborate on the bleach wipes/bleach solution that she recommended: the wipes are a product made by Clorox; they're called Clorox Germicidal Bleach Wipes. They aren't available, for reasons that are puzzling, in pharmacies or retail stores but can be bought online, e.g., through Amazon. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/Clorox-Healthcar ... 9NZFBBW3HS
Make sure, if you buy them, to handle them only with disposable gloves. They can be used to wipe down non-porous surfaces, such as countertops, door knob and toilet handle in bathroom; even a TV remote. Alternatively, you can make a bleach solution of approximately nine parts water to one part bleach.

I hope you feel better soon.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

Kuro
Contributor
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Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 5:12 pm

Re: Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

Postby Kuro » Sat Jul 14, 2018 12:20 am

Another vote for getting the Clorox germicidal wipes. They are not cheap, but one tub will last you quite a while. They have made keeping things clean much easier even with my physical impairments, and it simplifies it by not requiring you to constantly remake the bleach solution. You can get huge boxes of blue nitrile gloves at Wal-Mart for dirt cheap to use them with.

When I am finished, I just ball the wipe up in my palm and pull the glove off inside-out, so that the wipe gets pulled inside. Then, I tie off the wrist and toss it in the bathroom trash can. Easy as can be for keeping things sanitary. I also use them every so often to wipe off my keyboard, mouse, phone, any handheld machines. May be unnecessary for me at this point to do all of that, but it makes me feel better, so I keep doing it.

By the way, I am one of those people who does not know how they got CDIFF. My best guess is that I picked up a spore while visiting my mom in the hospital or my dying grandma in the nursing home over the past two years. When I was having some extended upset stomach issues early this year, CDIFF is the only thing that turned up positive, so that's what was treated. Only other "best guess" is that I touched a surface somewhere that someone else infected had touched without washing their hands.

beth22
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: Spore Wars: new POW- do I live with a carrier?

Postby beth22 » Sat Jul 14, 2018 2:21 am

C diff is in many places. It is on people's shoes. I always wash my hands after I put on or take off shoes. It really is all around us and it is when your immune system is down - either from taking antibiotics or just being sick maybe, that the infection can take hold. Since c diff, I wash my hands a lot more often. When I go to a restaurant, I always do so after handling the menu, for example, before I eat.


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